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[opendtv] Re: Ofcom's proposed spectrum auction

From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
To: <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Sun, 8 Jun 2008 19:56:06 -0400

Craig Birkmaier wrote:

>> Look at the facts. The multiplexes are owned by what, four
>> different companies? BBC, ITV, NGW, and BBC Free To View Ltd.
>> How is that any different from, say, the major US networks
>> owning the multiplexes here (or Sinclair, or Scripps, or some
>> other similar company)?
>
> First they do not own anything.

They "own" as much as our own station groups or OTA networks "own."

> What is far more significant is that the UK does not produce
> much of the content that is viewed there. Much is imported.
> And THEY dictate the terms of how the market works there,
> not the U.S. media conglomerates.

Seems to me that the opposite would be true. If, say, NGW owned the
content that it airs over its two multiplexes in the UK, they could in
principle air fewer ads to pay for their costs. So they would get an
advantage in that way. And they would still want viewers to tune into
their multiplexes, so they would augment their content with the best
they could buy elsewhere.

> The reason that the economics are different in Europe is simple.
> The politicians did not create rules that allow the media
> conglomerates to reach so deeply into their people's pockets.
> The most likely reason for this is that broadcasting started
> as a State operated service in Europe. Commercial broadcasters
> are a relative recent phenomenon where they exist in Europe. In
> the U.S. the conglomerates and the politicians created the
> illusion of competition (between broadcasters), while they
> prevented meaningful market based competition for these
> government regulated industries.

These same US congomerates manage to sell programs to Euro TV, somehow
or other. Have been forever.

You think that national coverage of DTT multiplexes "is a small matter."
Maybe so, but I believe not. I think that the way our multiplexes are
fractured, with the national cap coupled with station groups that are
affiliated with different conglom networks in different markets, creates
a very unattractive distribution model for content owners. They cannot
create any sort of corporate indentity over DTT. As a result, congloms
like GE/NBC and Disney/ABC lose interest. The FCC should ask them point
blank (assuming they have any interest in keeping FOTA TV alive in the
US).

Bert

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[opendtv] Re: Ofcom's proposed spectrum auction
From: Craig Birkmaier

[opendtv] Re: Ofcom's proposed spectrum auction

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